Gilas Pilipinas will make its debut in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 8 p.m. today against the Dominican Republic at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan. The Pinoy squad is in Group A along with Angola and Italy. Thirty-two teams are competing in the tournament.
Group A, B, C, and D are in Manila in the biggest basketball event of the year while two groups will slug it out in Okinawa, Japan and in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Tournament favorite USA is Group C, along with Jordan, Greece and New Zealand, while Spain will battle Iran, Ivory Coast and Brazil in Group G at the Indonesia Area in Jakarta.
Gilas will be bannered by Jordan Clarkson, Junemar Fajardo and Kai Sotto along with Dwight Ramos, Rhenz Abando, AJ Edu, CJ Perez, Jamie Malonzo, Japeth Aguilar, Keifer Ravena, Scottie Thompson and Roger Pogoy. Aguilar, appearing in his third straight FIBA World Cup, will be the team captain.
Despite the odds, the Pinoy team is expected to give the opposition a good fight amid the solid support and the prayers of a basketball crazy nation. Hoping that Gilas will do well in the tournament. Laban, Pilipinas!
Speaking of rising above the challenges and pain, mentally and physically, upcoming triathlon star Aidanreed Mercado overcame a nasty crash midway in the 2023 PTO Asian Open held in Marina Bay, Singapore last Sunday to finish second in the 16-19 years old age bracket of the Duathlon Standard event.
Mercado, also one of the country’s premier junior duathletes, finished 7th in the male 16-29 age category, 10th overall out of 433 male competitors and 14th out of the 572 total participants in the event. These feats are no laughing matter considering that the 18-year-old had bruises and scratches all over the left side of his body and on both knees and elbows after his spill with 16 kilometers left in the bike and another 4.5 kilometers run in the contest.
Mercado said he was traveling at least 45-55 kilometers per hour in the first bike lap when he crashed. “Mga quarter to six po ng umaga pero the thing po about Singapore is mga 7 a.m. pa ang sunrise kaya medyo po wala pa araw nu’n. Medyo madilim pa po tapos downhill portion pa ng highway. May hindi po ako napansin na sira sa daan kaya ayun po nag crash ako,” he said.
Despite his injuries, the swelling alone would make ordinary mortals to quit, Mercado will himself to rise and finish the rest thinking of his family, friends, coaches, his Aunt Jem Jaime and all those who supported him just for him to compete in Singapore. He was also thankful that he didn’t suffer any head injury.
“Hindi ko nga lang po naibigay ng todo kung ano ang ginawa ko sa training dahil nga po sa mga injury ko,” Mercado admitted. He also learned a lot from the experience that hopefully will add more to his resolve in future races and competitions. It also made him wiser too despite his relatively young age.
“I just have to deal with any current situation and be adaptive at the same time. I’ll be out there to represent the country, my loved ones, my parents, coaches and everyone else,” he added.
For the meantime, Mercado will rest to allow his body to recover and for his injuries to heal. He also has to stay focused for another chapter or race in his young life. The 18-year-old will start his pursuit of a college degree next week. Mercado is an incoming Legal Management freshman at De La Salle University Manila.
Incidentally, Sophia Capistrano, Mercado’s teammate and longtime friend, finished second overall in the women’s side of the 2023 PTO Asian Open. She also bagged the silver in her age bracket.
Mercado said he and Capistrano are eyeing to compete in the 2023 Asian Duathlon Championships in November. To prepare, they will join local and commercial races prior to the event and of course in between their studies. Like Mercado, Capistrano is also studying at DLSU.
In another bit of good news, the Philippine Football Federation announced the appointment of Mark Torcaso as the new coach of the Philippine Women’s National Football Team last Wednesday. Torcaso is the current Women Coach of the Year of the Australian League after guiding Western United to the grand finals of the inaugural season of the competitions early this year.
Joining Torcaso on the Filipinas are Sinisha Cohadzic and Andrew Durante as assistant coaches.
Torcaso said the team will prepare for the forthcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China next month and the AFC Olympics Qualifiers in Perth, Australia in October. Cohadzic, on the other hand, will handle the Girls’ Under-17 national team that will compete in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in Vietnam, also in September.
Stay safe. Stay happy peeps!
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